FX-4300 overclocking tips ?

Hi, im not new to the overclocking scene, but im not a pro either, so would like a few tips if possible i have been tinkering with my FX-4300 to see how far it will go with my current setup (specs below), because im not planning on upgrading until the new AMD gen pops up or until i burn this one i would like to know what is the diference between OC by multiplier or FSB besides the basics and if there is any chart or common knowledge of which one is better or gives better values ? So far ive been able to push this baby far more with multiplier then FSB (4.8ghz vs 4.4ghz respectively) but obviously each has its benefits ? Pls bare in mind that GPU and MB aside this is a poor man's PC

Screenshots added and have been taken after Prime95 overnight, 0 errors



QuadCore AMD FX-4300, 4800 MHz (24 x 200) CPU 1.35v - CPU/NB 1.2v
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - 1x120mm stock
Asus Crosshair V Formula
MSI GeForce GTX 660ti - N660Ti PE 2GD5/OC
8gb Corsair Vengeance LP CML8GX3M2A1600C9 - 9-9-9-24 1600mhz
64gb M4-CT064 M4SSD2 - System
500gb WDC WD50 00AAKX-08U6AA0 - Games
1tb WDC WD10 EARS-22Y5B1 - Backups
Corsair Enthusiast Series™ TX750 — 80 PLUS® Certified Power Supply
Zalman Z9 U3 - 3x Evo Labs 140mm 1000rpm (front, top) - 2x Evo Labs 120mm 2300rpm (back, bottom (PSU was taking too much space for a 140mm fan))
Acer H223HQ 21.5" Wide LCD Monitor
Windows 7 Professional 64bit

Need the obligatory screen shots of CPUz tabs and temp at 100% load for more help.

Looks good right there! I'd leave it alone and enjoy. You won't gain much from another 100-200mhz really.

Kick back and enjoy.

I agree with S_B...

...enjoy what you have since overall it is cpu speed that carries the mail. And very much so if you are into gaming.

I was thinking before I started to type and trying to go back over the number of FX cpus that just would not seem to like having the FSB overclocked. It was not many but probably on the order of 1 out of a 100 just wanted to be overclocked by the multiplier only. When you get one of those there is little that can be done. Plus not having such in the hands of somebody with a lot of different ram for experimenting; we never knew what made such config just hate FSB overclocking.

Still with 4.8Ghz stable overnite...you cannot ask for much better with cooling by CM 212 air cooler. I repeat S_B...kick back and enjoy.

RGone...

Gotta agree. Very little to gain.....if anything. Nice.

I agree with everything said and from what's posted it looks like you have room still for a little more oc. A slight bump in vCore should do the trick. Temps are still within the safe zone so no worries yet.

To answer your Multi/FSB question is simple. However the end result may not be as obvious. Meaning, OCing with FSB obviously raises your RAM freq, NB & HT link. However in a gaming rig this may or may not result in any noticeable FPS increase. As mentioned above, just because you increase an extra 100-200mhz generally doesn't mean any increase in performance.

Now if this were a specialty rig, i.e. mining, F@H, benchmarking or encoding rig, than FSB increases almost always result in better performance. This is of course all dependant on a stable set-up.

Blaylock said:

Temps are still within the safe zone so no worries yet.

To answer your Multi/FSB question is simple. However the end result may not be as obvious. Meaning, OCing with FSB obviously raises your RAM freq, NB & HT link. However in a gaming rig this may or may not result in any noticeable FPS increase.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your answers so far, this was what i was looking for, it is MAINLY a gaming rig, so ill stick to multiplier

@Blaylock : max temps are supposedly 62º for a Vishera/Piledriver core so unless i switch to H2O and considering summer is coming i think i will stick to what i got now (please correct me if im wrong, wouldn't mind stretching him a little bit more and have read about peeps running a 6300 at 75º 24/7), my question was in part to know if there was a difference in temp between both OC modes

TBH i think im getting close to OC limit on him, he was fine with 1.3v until 4.6ghz, then had to up 1.325v for 4.7ghz then 1.35v for 4.8ghz (again i will be happy with any corrections)

No you're correct. As this is a gaming rig the couple hundred mhz you'd get won't be noticeable. I believe you have a really nice chip there and with the nice low vCore you have with the good temps should give you some really good longevity.

As far as switching to water cooling, I wouldn't unless you really want to find your cap.

Unless you run into problems with load temps, air should be fine.

Do expect higher temps once the weather changes, normally not a real issue with good AC to your place but if not you'll see temps go up and that might affect things. I'd say go for it with air but be prepared to go with water "Just in case".

Quick update :

Continued to tinker with my settings and managed to stabilize 4.7ghz at 1.3v (although it seems more responsive/faster/fluid bumped to 1.308v) and that poses an interesting question : why does it take such a massive leap in voltage (1.308v to 1.356v) to go from 4.7ghz to 4.8ghz ? is this the so called "OC ceiling" ?

Have not changed anything else but the voltages so far for the purposes of this thread and being at slower VCore lowered my max temp from 58º to 54º on Prime95 overnight. Thoughts ?

4700 MHz (23.5 x 200) CPU 1.308v - CPU/NB 1.2v - CPU/VDDA 2.5V

(1.308v to 1.356v) to go from 4.7ghz to 4.8ghz < You ask why? No way to know why. Never seen one take that much at the MHz cpu Steps as we have called them. We say steps since most of the time it took a cpu voltage increase every 200Mhz or so to get the next stepup/level of cpu speed to be stable. Stair-step looking voltage per added cpu MHz. Your 4.7GHz to 4.8GHz is higher than we have seen but I have never seen any two of these cpu act just "exactly" like another. Close maybe not the exact same.

Adjusting and testing and seeing for 'yourself' what YOUR system will do is the final and exact outcome of what you can get or not get. Because none of our cpus will do the exact same as yours. And of course we would likely use the 4.7GHz speed since it uses much lower Vcore and you say temps are less. Less temps and voltage are always better and especially so when dealing with only 100MHz more. Looks like you have got just about all the real goodie for daily use.

RGone...